Is it generational or am I remembering it wrong?

For 12 years I had a picky fussy eater, who at one point was so thin I worried about it.

Then came his 13th birthday and he became a voracious eater who would eat anything and everything. If he wanted crisps, sweet biscuits or sweets, he had to buy his own because I never bought them, but bread, cheese, pasta, rice.

His favourite snack, concocted himself, was a handful of chinese noodles in a mug with a chicken stock cube, lots of boiling water, topped with about 2 inches of parmesan cheese.

poohbear, one idea is not to have fizzy drinks, fruit juice, sweets or biscuits in the house. It is quite possible. Just buy lots of sliced bread and spread and point him in that direction and keep a glass on the draining board for drinks of water.

I think it is a stage in a boys growth. My father was a teenager in late 1920s/early 1930s and was known to reminisce about the bread and butter eating competitions he would have with his brothers. The record was just over 20 slices at one meal

My sister and I (we had no brothers) could not believe how much our teenage sons ate.

pooohbear2811

Bibbity

My son is 7 and you have all terrified me.

Should I start stock piling food now in preparation?

maybe still cute enough to get adopted out???

Now that really made me laugh! And Terribull’s comment about the wardrobe being the dishwasher was so funny! Have loved reading these. Probably because we had 2 girls in the house. Cue arguing ... ‘will she be much longer on the phone I’m waiting for so and-so to ring me’. (landline only when they were teens. Ended up getting an extension in both bedrooms with ‘call waiting’ signal. The phone bill (not the food bill!) used to drive Himself nuts. Ditto hairdryers. Ended up with 3. One for me, one each for the girls ... ‘will she be much longer drying/styling her hair - I NEED IT now’. So ditto the electricity bill for Himself to get exasperated over.

I wouldn’t go back to all that for a gold clock!

Add it netball kit - they both played for school, club and County plus practice sessions and matches all over the country - Northumberland on one Saturday, Birmingham the next so again ditto the expense of petrol for the car....

All worth it. They are such loves now. ❤️❤️

The wheat allergy does make it impossible to let him fill up with lots of bread when he is hungry between meals. In your shoes I would stock up with baking potatoes (which are well within a 15-year-old's microwaving skills) and buy bags of ready-grated cheese (no dearer than blocks of cheese), packes of wafer-thin ham, jars of pickled onions, chutney etc. to have with the spuds. Sandwich fillers go well with baked potatoes, too, but are more expensive than basic ingredients. Could you involve him in preparing bowls of egg mayonnaise and so on more cheaply? Being able to make his own healthy inexpensive meals and snacks will stay with him all his life.

Bless you .. I feel your pain. My 2 beautiful GC are given open access to any food in the kitchen .. they constantly eat awful sugary snacks , bad for the teeth, they are both overweight, they don't eat "proper " food or sit at the table, they eat with their fingers.. I despair .. what is wrong with the parents ?

None of my children were anything like that, ( the massive amounts of eating etc) or really anything else like awful bedrooms, suppose I was lucky.

pooohbear2811

Thanks for your replies, nice to know he is fairly normal.
I have cut him down to 1 can a day, rest is water, Stopped him taking food upstairs so stops the rubbish problem.

Sadly part of his illnesses are food allergies. Allergic to eggs, dairy, gluten, wheat and nuts so difficult to give him a "balanced filling diet"
But yes at home he is allowed to help himself to what he wants when he wants but as one of five children nobody notices what he eats. He is also home educated. Not sure how daughter affords to feed him to be honest

Sounds exactly like my teenage grandson ( who has autism)

It's a fact of life that teenage boys have hollow legs.

And some girls too.

due to his food allergies ( egg/wheat/gluten/nut/dairy free
At least they have been diagnosed and you know what to avoid, pooohbear

I’m the mother of 4 sons now aged 42 down to 28. As teenagers, they would eat me out of house and home. They were always in the kitchen making snacks. My shopping bill was huge. So yes, it’s a part of growing up.

due to his food allergies ( egg/wheat/gluten/nut/dairy free ) all of which are expensive his mum footed the food bill, I just bought it and got refunded. I could not afford to feed him but then his mum gets DLA and carers for him.

I told my children and GC “Your teeth don’t rot while you live at home,they will cost you thousand if you don’t clean them”
It is hard to resist but don’t buy cookies,juice etc,if you have time get him to help with baking & cooking.Bread & jam or Nutella and definitely milk might be the answer,fill him up——-Put a laundry basket in his room—— it actually sounds like he needs training,but some people are just naturally untidy,ie my husband and eldest child—- just shut the bedroom door so you don’t see the mess.You actually have done an amazing thing helping his Mum,one less worry for her
He is old enough to understand and worry about his family so is probably very stressed just try to keep him busy,good luck

Dear heaven, he sounds awful, poor you - not just his dreadful behaviour, but the constant lying - I honestly couldn't put up with him, he sounds barely human - dirty, lazy, greedy dishonest, ungrateful....... Need I go on - what on earth kind of upbringing has he had - by wolves??????????

My teenage son eats for England and much to my daughter's disgust doesn't put on any weight! HEs always in the shower, teeth cleaning a bit iffy on occasions, this is perfectly normal apparently. We love them really!

You deserve a medal. I could not afford that amount of food; the word greedy comes to mind

My brother could manage several slices of bread and jam when he came in from school before he had his tea. There may not have been snacks but that (and left overs) was always there. With no fridge he quite often finished off whatever was sitting on the pantry shelf. So did my DSs, but they took it out the fridge.

No, you are remembering it right OP. As children we never snacked, we had proper meals. There was neither the money or the choice for snacks. When I had my children, they didn't get snacks either, and fizzy drinks were never on the menu. (Except for the odd Coca Cola in whisky.) my grandchildren are brought up under the same regime, but with snacks as a reward for something special after the main meal.

Isn't he setting himself up for serious health problems doing this? Sugary snacks and drinks can lead to overweight and diabetes.

yes mum still waiting on a diagnosis for him, definitely on the spectrum somewhere.
I was trying to find a happy balance of making him feel loved and welcome but not having him get away with too much. Especially as his 11 day stay may have had to have been extended if any other family members then came down with it.
We did have some nice conversations and sat and had hugs the other night.
He did come out for walks with us as well.
Think as we get older we just get in a rut and having to accommodate others can be difficult.

My son as a teenager fitted the eating/non-showering/sleeping/ wearing the same clothes etc, etc. Now aged 23 he shares a house with 2 other young men and complains about them leaving clothes on the floor, not washing up etc. They do all grow up eventually. Loved the boy who slept in the shower, that explains why my son spent 20 mins in the shower every morning!

Nannan 2

Nicely written Nannan ?

My son grew 3 inches the year he was 15 and did not stop eating. As for the rest it sounds typical teenager...

Sounds familiar but it didn't happen in my older brother's day (he's 68) as none of it was allowed & our parents were in charge !!!

My lovely Grandson is coming up to 14 and in the last few months has turned into an eating machine. As a small boy his favourite book was ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and I think he is trying to live up to it! ?

He is quite capable of eating a 14inch pizza by himself and will be looking for more food within the hour. He is unsurprisingly growing like a weed. Fortunately his hygiene is reasonable (ish) and he hasn’t got to the grunting stage yet; he is quite chatty and sociable. Boys eh? ???

Is he overweight?